Regenerator for telegraph signals



Jan. 24, 1.939. I R D, SALMQN- 2,144,938

REGENERATOR FOR TELEGRAPH SIGNALS Filed sept. 5o, 1936 oo M 3% y @0K/Wx Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RElGENERATOR FOR TELEGRAPH SIGNALS Reginald Dennis Salmon, Croydon, England, assgnor to Creed and Company Limited, Croydon, England 5 Claims.

Ihis invention relates to regenerators for telegraph signals, and its object is to provide an arrangement whereby the percentage of each signal element used to determine its character is reduced to a minimum, and whereby the extreme accuracy required for this purpose may be achieved with the minimum amount of manufacturing care.

It is known in selector mechanism for type printing telegraph apparatus to use a series of pivoted T shaped members, one for each signal element, and to reciprocate these in succession against a member whose position is controlled by the receiving magnet armature to turn the T member in accordance with the character of a signal element and then against a member to set the selector members.

This known mechanism is used as a means of distributing the successive settings of the magnet armature to a plurality of selector members in succession, although it functions to some extent as a regenerator in that the T-shaped members are not continuously under the influence of the magnet armature during the whole period of a signal element, but are only brought under the influence thereof for a portion of such element. If this portion is to be made small and very accurately selected all they T-shaped members must be exactly alike, and all the levers through which they are reciprocated by the cams must also be exactly alike. This in itself is achieved without great diiculty, but the levers through which the T-shaped members are moved must all be adjusted in position with very great care.

I achieve the object of this invention by means of a regenerator which comprises a single member moved for each signal element into position to be aiected by the armature of the receiving magnet and immediately thereafter into position to affect a member for reproducing the signal element.

In the preferred form of the invention I use a single pivoted T-shaped member, moved by means of a cam for each signal element into a position such that a frame member tilted in one or the other direction by the armature of the receiving magnet contacts with one or other arm of the T so as to tilt the T-shaped member in a corresponding manner. Immediately thereafter the T-shaped member is moved so that the arm which has been tilted in a particular way is able to come into contact with a tiltable frame carrying a member for reproducing the signal element. This member may carry a contact arm for retransmitting the signals in undistorted form or may, for means of any well known form of distributing and translating mechanism act on a number of selecting members in succession to select a character or perform a function corresponding to a plurality of signal elements.

The single T-shaped member is moved by means of a cam through the medium of a single lever, and thus the accuracy of the timing of the signal elements depends only on the accurate cutting of a single cam and the accurate adjustment in relation thereto of a single lever and a single T-shaped member instead of upon the accurate adjustments of five of each of these in relation to a cam and to one another.

The invention will be better understood from the following description of one embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing, I represents an extension of the armature 4I of a receiving magnet illustrated diagrammatically at 40. This armature is connected by a link 2 with a Vertical lever 3, pivoted at 4, having two arms 5, B and a triangular portion 'I therebetween. The arms 5 and 6 are horizontal and are bent at right angles to the plane of the lever 3, and work between fixed stops 39 and 49.

A latch member 36 is provided with stepped portions I3 and I4, of which portion I3 engages a xed stop II and portion I4 engages the end of the armature extension I. The member 36 is mounted upon a pivot carried by a two-armed lever 9 pivoted at I2, the other arm of which terminates with a forked portion engaging a pin I9 fixed to the middle arm I1 of a three armed lever IB, I1, I8 pivoted on a rod I5. The pin I9 is normally arranged so that it is substantially coaxial with the spindle 2| which carries the regenerator cams. The pivot I5 is carried on a frame (not shown) in such a way that it can be oriented around the cam spindle 2I. Arm I6 of the three armed lever is formed as a stop arm cooperating with a detent 20 mounted on the spindle 2I. The third arm I8 is adapted to co-operate with a resetting cam 22 also mounted on the spindle 2 I. A spring I9 tends to rotate the lever 9 downwardly so as to move the three armed lever I6, I1, I8 to withdraw the stop arm IG from the detent 2B. A spring 8 acts to hold latch 36 against fixed stop II so that stepped portion I3 prevents this downward movement of lever 9.

The first movement of the armature extension I moves the member 36 so that the stop I3 is freed from the xed stop I I and the spring I0 is allowed to draw the fork 9 and with it the member 36 downwards until the motion is arrested by the third arm I8 engaging with the lower level of cam 22.

The shaft 2| is driven through a friction clutch (not shown) in the usual manner and when the stop arm I6 is withdrawn the shaft 2| and the cams 20, 22, 23 and 24 thereon start to revolve. The shaft 2| is driven at such a rate that it completes one revolution for 6% signal elements.

Immediately after commencement of movement of the shaft 2| the cam 22 acts on the arm I 8 of the three armed lever to cause the stop arm I6 to rise (the detent 20 being shaped to permit of this) and therefore also to raise the fork 9 and the member 36. The stop arm I6 rises beyond the position shown in the drawing. The member 36 is consequently raised above the position shown until, owing to the stepped portion I4, no part of it is in the path of movement of the armature extension I, the lower part of the member 36 resting against the fixed stop II. This position is maintained until near the end of a revolution of shaft 2| when detent 2B permits the arm I8 to move inwards again to allow the stop arm I6 to be drawn downwards by the spring I Il towards the position shown in which at the end of a revolution arm I6 again engages detent 20 to bring the shaft 2| to rest. The member 36 is drawn downwards with the member 9 until the stepped portion I3 again rests on the stop II.

During the revolution cam 24 acts to intermittently raise and lower a lever 25 pivoted on a rod 26 and carrying on a pivot 3l at its other end a member 2l in the shape of a short inverted T. This intermittent movement is arranged to substantially correspond to the spacing between successive code signal elements. The member 2l carries a rod 28 which carries a frame 3B attached to a spring 29 for the purpose of holding member 2'! in one or other of its tiltedpositions.

In its lowest position the horizontal arms of the member 2 can be struck by the horizontal arms 5, 6 respectively. During the response of the receiving magnet to the signal elements representing a character the member 2 and arms 5 and 8 are tilted in one direction or the other for each signal element. At a given point in the period of a signal element as near to the middle thereof as is practicable the cam 23.on the shaft 2| permits movement of lever 3B pivoted on the rod 26 so that its pointed end portion 3| descends on the triangular portion 1 between the two arms 5 and Ei. The knife edge of the triangular portion 3| descending on the knife edge of the triangular portion 'l pushes the latter over to the side towards which it is inclined at the moment of impact and then holds the member S and the arms 5 and 6 in position. Immediately thereafter the cam 24 moves the lever 25 so as to bring member 21 into its lowest position, in which it is tilted to one side or the other according to the position of arms 5 and 6 and is held in that position by spring 29. The cam 2a then moves the lever 25 to raise member 2l so that the rod 28 can contact with depending members 32 and 33 on a frame 34 pivoted at 35. This results in the transference of the setting of member 27 and consequently of the member 3 to the frame 34. This frame St is the selector frame of a type printing telegraph receiver of any well known type in which the successive settings of the frame 34 are caused to act on translating mechanism to reproduce a character. It is clear, however, that the-frame 34-may movea contact tongue asshown at 42 in order to re-transmit each regenerated signal element over line 43.

What is claimed is:

1. A telegraph signal regenerator for signals of two types comprising in combination a rotatable shaft, a receiving magnet, an armature controlled by said magnet, a member moved by said armature, a reproducing member for reproducing received signals, a single member for operating said reproducing member in accordance with the type of successive received signals and means controlled by said rotatable shaft for reciprocating said single member against the said member moved by said armature and immediately thereafter against said reproducing member.

2. A telegraph signal regenerator for signals composed of different types of impulse elements, comprising in combination a receiving magnet, an armature controlled by said magnet and operable between two positions in accordance with the type of received impulse elements, a frame linked to said armature adapted to occupy two different positions in accordance with the respective positions of the armature, a reproducing member adapted to occupy two different positions, a pivoted reciprocable member tiltable into two different positions in accordance with the position of said frame, and means for reciprocating said reciprocable member for every received signal impulse into contact with said frame to tilt said reciprocable member in accordance with the position of said frame and immediately thereafter to reciprocate said reciprocable member to oontact with said reproducing member to move said member into a position depending on the position of said frame.

3. A telegraph signal regenerator for start-stop telegraph signals, comprising a receiving magnet, an armature means controlled by said magnet, a cam shaft, means controlled by said armature for setting said cam shaft into rotation, a single pivoted member tiltable into position determined by said armature means, a reproducing member, means controlled by said cam shaft during rotation for reciprocating said single pivoted member for each signal to be reproduced into contact with said armature means for tilting said pivoted member in accordance with received signals and immediately thereafter into position to control said reproducing member, and means for arresting said cam shaft after a predetermined degree of rotation.

4. A telegraph signal regenerator comprising a receiving magnet, an armature means controlled by said magnet, a cam shaft means tending to rotate said cam shaft, a detent holding said shaft against rotation a member moved by said armature means for causing removal of said detent and so setting said cam shaft into rotation, means controlled by said cam shaft for moving said member out of control of said armature means, a single pivoted tiltable member, a reproducing member, means controlled by said cam each signal to be reproduced into contact with said armature means for tilting said pivoted member in accordance with received signals and immediately thereafter into position to control said armature and immediately thereafter into position to move said reproducing member, and means for resetting said detent to arrest said cam shaft after a predetermined degree of rotation.

5. A telegraph signal regenerator comprising a magnet, an armature controlled by said magnet, a` frame linked to said` armature and movable immediately thereafter against said reproducing means and for holding said reciprocating member in position intermediate its contact with said frame and with said reproducing member at periods between said reciprocations.

REGINALD DENNIS SAIMON. 

